The Hydra

You know the beast from Greek mythology? The one that, when one head was cut off, would grow back two? Well, that is what this hobbit-hole project was starting to feel like. I reported in my last post that I had fixed the leak. Well that was true, but the next time it rained hard, there were more leaks, and so I have taken drastic measures. I realized that the structure of the back wall was fundamentally flawed. I had built it in haste at the end of last year, trying to get it done before the snows began. I took a couple of shortcuts, hoping that it would work OK and, well, you know the rest. So, I have torn down the back wall. Yep, gone, except for the low cinder-block retaining wall, which I have kept for looks. And its a good thing, too, because the wood structure had begun to rot due to all the leakage that had been happening over the winter and wet spring. If I had let that go, then the whole interior could have been contaminated with mold eventually. As it is, the bad stuff is gone, and the interior is not damaged. The hydro-hydra is vanquished. Well, sort of. Instead of a leaky wall, I now have no wall.

My new plan? I'm not going to mess around this time. I'm going to use concrete--just like they usually do when dealing with culvert pipes under highways and such. I'm building a form for a 10-inch thick concrete retaining wall to cover the back wall and extend beyond it to hold up the future hill around it. The form will include an opening for the window and ventilation. This will be reinforced with some rebar. Yes, it will be ugly and un-hobbitlike at first, but don't worry, I will make it round on top and cover it up with a nice façade so it won't look like a culvert.

If only I had thought of this method in the first place! Oh well. Live and learn. That's what you get when you are an amateur taking on a job like this. Not to worry, though. After all, Bilbo and Frodo were amateurs too, when they first set out on their adventures.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

This has been an unusually wet year.  I actually love rain, and wish that it would rain where I live more often than it normally does.  But when it comes to the hobbit-hole right now, rain is not so good.  It really puts a damper on working on it--at least on the part that I need to work on right now, which is the outside.  But there is some good news: I have plugged the leak!  One thing about all this rain is that it has given me lots of opportunities to test whether the measures I have been taking are working.  Yesterday morning it had dried out enough that I was able to put some finishing touches on the repairs.  It has rained a lot off and on since then, soaking everything pretty good, but the hobbit-hole is nice and dry, which is a good thing, because, after all, a hobbit-hole is not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell.  No--a hobbit-hole means comfort!

Where is Sam Gamgee when I need him?

I need a gardener.  Spring has finally come, and so have the weeds.  At least it has stopped raining on my Saturdays!  I actually was able to work on it today, and made some really good progress on shoring up the northeast corner.  I'll get the leak fixed, then I can worry about trimming the verge.

Thank you for your support!

Thank you for all of your comments.  I am so happy to hear that the hobbit-hole is inspiring people, and even helping to bring family members closer. I had no idea that it could have that kind of impact. I really feel motivated to keep going with it thanks to all of your encouraging comments.  The weather has been wonderful--now if I can just get over this darn cold!  

Another Saturday, Another Storm

We are stuck in a cycle: sunny six days, then rain.  In general, I enjoy the occasional rainstorm.  The only problem is that the rainy days lately have all fallen on my Saturdays.  This weekend, I did manage to fix a leak, but it wasn't the hobbit-hole leak; it was the dripping faucet in the bathtub.  Yet that little success at stopping water has given me added confidence.  I can tell water where to go (or where not to)!  After striking that off the honey-do list, I decided to embrace all the wetness and do something very un-hobbit-like: I took the kids swimming. 

The Long Winter is Over

I want to thank everyone who has been sending me words of encouragement over the last few months.  It has really helped me to feel motivated to finish this project, which has turned out to be a bigger job than I thought it would be.  We finally had a week of real spring and sunshine this week.  Unfortunately, I was stuck at work all week and had a lot of other things on the calendar that prevented me from doing any more work on the project.  Now I have a Saturday, and it is raining again, which brings me to the other problem: the hobbit-hole has a leak.  

This has been very discouraging and rather demotivating, compounded by the fact that we have had so much rain and snow that I have been constantly reminded of it, without being able to do anything about it.  It isn't a horrible leak--only a trickle--and only occurs when the rain and snow are particularly heavy; but it is enough that I would wind up with a major problem over time if I don't fix it.  

It is totally my own fault--a result of being too hasty! (A lesson which I ought to have learned from Treebeard). The good news is that it is totally fixable--and is not some defect in the structure of the pipe.  I have identified the source of the leak, and have determined how to fix it (or rather them--there are two spots).  In fact, I did manage to fix one of them already, in fits and spurts during March .  I just need the stars (or the sun and clouds) to align again so that I can fix the other side.  It would have been nice if the leaks had been somewhere above ground; but no, they have been down at the foundation, where the pipe meets the wall, so I had to dismantle the retaining walls on the two corners (the back side of the hole) and dig out all the dirt to expose the spots. (There are few things more discouraging than having to tear down something you have already built and do it over.)

Looking back now, I can see how I could have totally avoided this problem.  I just got over-excited about getting the back wall completed, and underestimated water's ability to penetrate through rock and dirt and squeeze through small cracks--even buried cracks.  I said I was an amateur at this, and this proves it.  But all is not lost.  

Hope remains while the Fellowship is true!

Hobbit-hole in Winter

Buried in Snow

It has been so snowy this winter (22 year record) that I haven't gotten any work done on the hobbit-hole. I couldn't even get any pictures taken of the completed retaining walls before everything was buried. You can see the ones on the far side here, their tops sticking up above the snow. I hope I have at least built all this to withstand the first winter. Next spring, I will finish the exterior with some brick and stucco, so that it isn't just OSB with generous amounts of caulking and wood sealant.

Sledding on the Hobbit-hole!

The kids couldn't wait for a proper snowfall; a couple of inches was enough for them. The first skiff of snow, and they were all over the hobbit-hole on their sleds. This was back in mid-December. Earlier in the day, it had been warm enough for me to work outside without a coat. I was frantically working on some last minute winterization measures, knowing this storm was coming. As the snow began to fall; I hurriedly tossed a thin layer of dirt up onto the pipe so that the snow would stick and the kids would have a halfway-decent slope to sled down. The kids all watched with excitement as I froze my buns off shoveling dirt, and as the snow began to accumulate. No sooner did we have enough snow to hide all the dirt, then they were all out there lining up to sled down; and they didn't come in for 3 hours! It doesn't take a very big hill to make it a ton of fun for the kids. And they didn't care that the dirt was loose and got mixed with the snow. As long as they had a fairly smooth track to go down, they were willing to put up with the difficult slog back up. More recently, we have had a ton more snow, and the kids have been out there sledding time and again. I can't wait until we have it properly covered with more dirt, and with sod!

Retaining Wall + this hobbit revealed...

I built the first of four retaining walls, to come off the sides of the front and back, which will keep the hill in place. I chose a terra cotta color that I hope will compliment the entrance, which will eventually have a brick and stucco exterior.

The hobbit building this hole finally consented, reluctantly, to pose for a photo.

Rear Window

At long last, the hobbit-hole is completely enclosed. I installed the rear window before the mortar had even tried on the wall. I have a lot more work to do on this rear part to completely weatherproof it. Then there is finish work left to do on the front, back and inside. There some architectural details to add. Some of those may need to wait until next year. The kids were so excited to have the window in that they slept in the hobbit-hole again that very night (even though it is October). It was a lot warmer and quieter without the wind blowing through that opening. The moon was big and bright, shining through the window and bathing the hobbit-hole in moonlight.

Low reinforcement wall

I can't help it; my blog post titles are getting more and more boring. (Oh well.) Using cinderblocks, I built a low wall. Not only does it look really cool, but it also serves to keep the OSB flush with the pipe. It's too bad it's going to be partially buried with dirt.

Rear wall

The rear wall starts to take shape, starting with OSB cut to cover the entrance, with a hole for the window.
This is actually two layers of OSB. You may recall that the pipe is not totally level. To compensate for this, the two layers of OSB are in a narrow V shape. They are connected flush at the bottom, but taper out until they are about 2 inches apart at the top. So the inner layer is flush with the pipe opening, which is no level, while the outer later is level. The inner layer is also covered with heavy duty black pastic to weather proof it against the dirt, which will come right up against it.

Starting on the back wall

Now that the front is far enough along that it can withstand the winter, I'm starting on the back. As I did with the front, I poured a foundation for the rear wall.

Weatherproofing the Entrance

I am anxious to start on the back wall, but first I needed to get the entrance far enough along that it could survive the winter--in case I run out of time before it starts to snow. I finished building out the wall on the left and right sides, so there is no longer a gap, then I sealed all the seams and cracks and stained it all. This is not the completed entrance, but it should be good enough to make it through the winter, just in case. Now I am turning my attention to the back wall, which will include a large window. Once the back is done enough to be at least weatherproof, I can get the dirt put on top of the tube. Then it will be down to finish work on the exterior and interior.
Here is another angle on the entrance. I may be giving away my location here, for those familiar with that mountain. ;)
Here is a bird's eye view, taken from up in the cherry tree. I can't wait until I can cover up that unsightly tube!
Maybe in my next post, I will include some people, so you can get a better idea of the scale of this. The tube is 6 feet diameter and 15 feet long, which should give some idea. I have to duck pretty low to enter, as the door itself is only a little more than 4 feet in diameter.